A dentist with no probe, a cop with no gun, a circus trainer with no whip

Today I experienced my first real taste of loss and Las Vegas Culture. But, before I get to that, there is an exercise that I want you to humor me with. Close your eyes. Ok, keep them open so you can read this. Pretend that you are a surgeon who is going on a long journey, perhaps to practice overseas. You're not a very smart surgeon, because all that you pack is band-aids. No scapel, no syringe, no anesthesia. Bandaids.

Now pretend you are lawyer who is working on a very high profile case. When you get to court, all you have is a yellow pad. No briefs, no folders, no evidence. A yellow pad.

Now, pretend you are an architect who is building the 8th wonder of the world. When you get to the site, all you have is a pencil. No blueprints, no compass, no protractor. A pencil.

If you have accurately managed to summon the feelings of those three professionals, then you know how stressed and underprepared I feel right now.

When I left my last school, I packed up EVERYTHING I needed for my profession as a teacher--including over $600 of professional books. However, today as I was putting together my classroom, I realized something very important: I have roughly 1000 paperclips, 2000 staples, 3 staplers, 20 binder clips, 25 reams of paper and 600 pencils. No books.

I think my books may still be at Lathrup. This should be fun..

Is this bad? Hell yeah! This is horrible. This is appaling. Simply beastly.

Let's add insult to injury.

Yesterday around 4 pm I checked my mail in my apartment complex and, luckily, I had 2 boxes of books and papers! Just what I had been anxiously waiting for. I put both boxes in the backseat of my car where they were kept company by another box, another package, several CDs and a few DVDs. When I got of my car, I noted that it was a warm 118 degrees so I decided to leave the boxes, full of books mind you, in my car until about 7 pm when it would be decidely cooler.

At 7:00 I went downstairs to my car to retrieve my books. The first thing I noticed was that my car door was open. Curious and confused, I tiptoed to my car in case there was anything trying to get out. The big box, the package, the DVDs and the CDs were still there. The loose change was still there. The emergency $10 in the console was still there. The books? Gone.

So, either some very very smart, intellectual thieves who like to read and are on a quest for knowledge of 7th grade literature stole my books, or some very very stupid, unhappy blokes who were looking for more intriguing booty stole my books.

If you would like to contribute to my book fund (which I desperately need) please let me know.

*M*